CityLab Daily: NYC’s Slow Recovery Prompts Need to Reinvent Its Economy
Also today: Where mornings would get darker under permanent daylight savings time, and to make streets safer, design them for drunk drivers.
The New York City skyline seen from the Summit One Vanderbilt observation deck
Photographer: Jeenah Moon/BloombergBeyond New York City’s red-hot real estate market and bustling restaurant scene, much of the city’s economy is still stuck in a Covid-induced malaise, with unemployment double the U.S. average. The under-employment rate was 13.5% — and 19% for Black residents — as businesses in the service, hospitality and entertainment industries, in particular, are struggling to survive amid the slow return of office workers and tourists.
Policymakers and business leaders now face pressure to reimagine New York City’s recovery, and diversify its economy to rely less on real estate, tourism and the five-day workweek. One potential policy prescription is to transform empty offices into cultural centers, biotech labs and startup incubators, Alicia Diaz and Alexandre Tanzi report. Today on CityLab: New York City’s Renewed Vibrancy Is Hiding Deep Economic Pain.